Despite holiday distractions, Southeast Missouri State women's basketball preparing for conference play

Southeast Missouri State coach Rekha Patterson encourages her team against Evansville during the third quarter Tuesday at the Show Me Center.

Fred Lynch

When the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team defeated Evansville 74-65 on Tuesday, it was one final chance to get a look at things in a game situation before the results matter.

The next time the Redhawks step on the court, it will be to begin jockeying for position in the Ohio Valley Conference and, ultimately, to gain entry to the postseason tournament.

That starts Thursday when Southeast hosts a men's and women's doubleheader vs. conference frontrunner Belmont at the Show Me Center.

In the interim, SEMO has some time to enjoy the holidays. Just not too much.

"Most of them are leaving today to go home," Southeast coach Rekha Patterson said after Tuesday's win. "We told them, 'This is the holiday season. You make sure you go home and enjoy time with your family and your friends. That part is extremely important. However, you're still basketball players. You're Division I student-athletes that play basketball. Which means you don't really get downtime. So it's important for you to go home and not just chill, because we have to come back ... and you're right into conference play.'"

SEMO will enter OVC play at 5-7, hoping to combine the lessons of a tough road stretch with the confidence boost of a strong performance against the Purple Aces in the non-conference finale earlier this week. And when the Bruins come calling in six days, it will be at home, where the Redhawks are 4-1, with their only loss coming in overtime.

"You get that momentum off a win and, again, come back home," junior guard Adrianna Murphy said. "Just getting a win under our belts at home, we've got some things to work on, but I think today we cleaned up a lot of things we wanted to clean up the last four road games. And that's the biggest part -- are we growing each game? And I think today we showed the most cohesiveness on both ends of the floor. I think we're moving in the right direction and as long as we keep working at it and get ready for the next."

As the team gets ready, the players get to enjoy an experience that is often foreign for them -- the ability to have a one-track mind. The life of a student-athlete is one that relies on time management skills and the ability to juggle multiple obligations. For a few weeks, until the second semester begins in mid-January, the Redhawks players get to be not student-athletes, but just athletes.

That lightening of the load is something that Patterson has been talking about with her players as she reminds them to make the most of this unique window of time.

"She tells us, 'Well, this is what professional athletes feel like. They don't have anything to do but play ball. This is what they do. This is what you wanted to do. So have at it,'" senior forward Deja Jones said. "The gym is always open. You don't have to worry about class, you don't have to worry about school, you can get in overtime. And pull a teammate in. Don't just go by yourself. Make everyone around you better."

The ability to utilize the next couple of weeks efficiently and wisely will go a long way toward helping Southeast push its foot in the door and get off to a good start in OVC action, because if last season was any indication, it will be a dogfight to establish positioning in the league standings.

And a glance at the schedule shows that SEMO will begin that dogfight out of the gates, with an opening stretch against some of the OVC's better squads -- hosting Belmont, hosting Tennessee State, at Murray State and at Austin Peay.

The immediate goal is simply to keep all eyes on the prize, even with the distractions of the Christmas holiday.

"Our returners understand what that's like," Patterson said. "They were joking with (freshman) Tesia (Thompson) about conditioning when they come back. I hope they do what they're supposed to do. We've given them a plan. (Strength and conditioning) coach (Ryan) Johnson has given them a plan on what they should be doing. You don't have to have access to a gym to get out and run and stay in some type of shape. But they do need to get away, they do need to enjoy family and friends and then they also need to remember that once they come back it's a different season."